Avengers in the Woods
by PassionatelyHiddlestoned
Summary: Steve, Thor, Tony, Loki, and Bruce go for a weekend up in the woods in Thor's cousin's cabin. Little do they know their weekend of fun is being closely monitored by Coulson and Selvig. Will they find out they are being watched before something sinister is unleashed upon them? Steve: Dana, Tony: Marty, Thor: Curt, Loki: Jules, Bruce: Holden, Coulson: Hadley, Selvig: Sitterson
1. Chapter 1

"I don't know," said Phil Coulson, standing by the coffee machine with his co-worker. "I just think it's a bold move on my part." Erik Selvig put a lid on his freshly poured coffee. "Come on! You've got to start somewhere. She's not gonna wait forever." "Yeah…. maybe you're right. She's a cellist- I've always loved the cello." "You see? You're meant to be!"

They opened the door of the refreshments room and walked out. "What about you?" Coulson prompted. "You met anyone yet?" Selvig just laughed, and shook his head. "I'm too old for that now!" "No you're not! But you'd better find someone before you **get** too old!" The two men laughed, and kept walking down the hallway.

As they walked, their ears were met by the familiar shoe clomping of Maria Hill behind them. "Guys!" she said. "Have you heard? All the other countries' scenarios have failed this year!" Selvig raised his eyebrow. "Really? Well, no need to worry yourself, Hill, the US always has it in the bag." "You can always depend on us!" said Coulson jokingly with a patriotic fist pump.

"Seriously guys! What if something goes wrong?" persisted Maria. "Nothing will go wrong, Hill, that hasn't happened since '98, and it's not about to!" retorted Coulson. "I hope you guys are right," Maria said, tucking her binder beneath her arm and following them to the cart parking,

"You better not be goofing off in there!" she yelled after them as they pulled away in a cart. "We won't!" Selvig shouted back, and they both laughed. Coulson took a sip of coffee. "So, do you wanna come over for some target practice this weekend? I've got to brush up on my skills a bit." He looked over to Selvig, who was trying to take a sip of coffee without spilling the hot contents all over himself. Coulson sighed. "Are you- are you even listening to me?"

AVENGERS IN THE WOODS


	2. Chapter 2

Steve Rogers looked around his room. All neat and tidy, like he always kept it. He was hunting through his clothes to find something fitting to wear. Tony had just met a new guy at school in the Science Club, so Thor had invited him along with the rest of them for the weekend getaway to get better acquainted with their group of friends. Steve wanted to look cool in front of the new friend, but also wanted to be comfortable. He settled for a plain white T-Shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

He heard Thor honk from the rambler he had rented, (with Tony's money) and looked out the window. They were waiting in front of his apartment. He grabbed his bag, and grinned. This was going to be a fun weekend!

He jogged out the door, and was greeted by a slap on the back from Thor, dressed in a bright red tshirt and blue jeans. "Steve! It is most exciting that you could come on our weekend trip to my cousin's cabin!" Steve smiled as he threw his stuff in the back of the rambler. "Wouldn't miss it for the world!"

He got in, and looked around. There was Loki, crossing his arms in the corner, dressed in a green T-Shirt and grey jeans, and there was the new guy. Steve nodded a hello at Loki, and went over to the new guy. "Hi. I'm Steve Rogers. You must be Bruce?" The guy smiled and shook his hand. "Yeah, Bruce Banner. Good to meet you Steve."

Thor waited impatiently outside the rambler doors, frequently checking the time. "Tony should have been here 10 minutes ago!" he whined. "Well, what do you expect, you stupid oaf, Stark is always late," Loki growled from his seat, growing very tired of the sound of Thor's foot tapping. Thor pouted.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of blaring speakers coming from down the road. Bruce popped his head out the window, and Steve looked out the door.

*I'm gonna shoot to thrill, play to kill* The words to ACDC's Shoot to Thrill came blasting out of the shiny black convertible that pulled up at the curb at incredulous speed. Tony opened the door, and downed what was left of his beer. Steve's eyes widened, and Loki just shook his head. Tony stepped out of the car, with a grin on his face. "I'm bringing the party to you!" he said, lifting his bag out of the backseat.

"Tony?!" called Steve as he crossed the street. Tony locked up the car. "What's up, Capsicle?" Tony asked, smiling slyly as he got out. "Tony, you can't just drive around town with a bottle of beer! The cops will nail you! Plus, it's very dangerous, and you could hurt innocent pedestrians-" "Ugh, enough, Mother Hen! I came for a weekend of fun, not rules!" he said, putting a hand on Steve's shoulder. Sometimes Steve hated the care-free attitude of his friend.

They got in the rambler, and Tony fist bumped Bruce. "Hey Lokes!" Tony called over to Loki. "How many times have I told you, Stark, never call me that! Just because I'm 17 and you're all 18 doesn't mean I can be at the receiving end of your ever so irritating jokes! And in response to your greeting, 'Hey.' Tony raised his eyebrows, and sat down.

He unzipped his suitcase, which was filled with his red swim shorts and pair of sunglasses, but mostly booze. Steve looked down at it in disbelief, but Tony just smiled back. He took out some smaller bottles, and started filling them as the car started.

"This'll be good, y'know, taking a weekend away from everything, away from all the stress of life. Just chillaxin!" Tony said. "I agree," said Bruce. "It'll be nice to just have a quiet trip with my new friends." Tony glanced over to him. "Oh, who ever said it would be quiet?" They laughed.

As the rambler drove further down the sunny road, someone in a black uniform and black sunglasses that had been perched on top of their house touched their earpiece. "This is Hawkeye, code 14. The birds have left the nest. We're right on time."


	3. Chapter 3

Thor turned the steering wheel into a seemingly abandoned gas station, as the rambler was running out of gas.

"Why would you pull into an abandoned gas station, you blithering idiot?" Loki asked. "We need gas, brother! It is our only hope if we wish to make it to my cousin's cabin."

They got out. "Bruce, can you check if there's someone in the convenience centre over there?" asked Steve. "Sure."

Bruce stepped over some piles of dead grass, and regarded the sign that read 'closed' hanging on the door. He went in anyway, since they desperately needed the gas. "Hello? Anyone here? Hello?" Bruce checked through some stuff. There was old animal fur, and some mouldy looking jerky for sale. He wrinkled his nose.

Bruce shrugged. "Guys?" he called as he turned to leave. "I don't think there's any-" He was cut off by a very tall, angry looking man stepping out in front of him. "Woah!" shouted Bruce, and walked outside with his hands in front of him. "Woah, man, we don't want any trouble, we just needed some help out here." The guy looked back at the sign on the door. "In case you didn't notice, the sign says 'closed.'" He said in a strange British accent.

Thor looked at the sign in surprise, clearly seeing it for the first time. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but we need to buy some gasoline for our vehicle!" The man looked at all of them. "I'm Jarvis. This is my gas station. No one's been here in years!" Loki stepped out. "What do you mean? Surely there would be campers, hikers through these woods?"

The guy just laughed at Loki. "What would you know, you've probably never hiked a day in your life, you snob!" Loki's eyes widened angrily, and sputtered, not finding words to respond to this abrupt personality accusation.

Tony stepped forward, right in front of the guy. "Hey, man, where do you get off talking to my friend like that? He's smarter than you, that's for damn sure! He's actually one of the smartest people I know! So lay off!" He got right in his face, ready to say some more choice words, but Bruce stepped in between the two. "Alright, alright, calm down. But in regards to Loki's question, how come so few people come up here?"

Jarvis just laughed. "They don't dare come anywhere near here." They looked at him confusedly. "Why?" asked Steve. "There's something evil that lurks I those woods. Something you kids best be avoiding. Take my word, and turn back now!"

Thor just scoffed. "We came for a weekend of fun, gas station man, and nothing anyone can say will stop us from that!" The man just shrugged. "Your choice. But I won't be calling the police for you when I hear screaming in the night, cause it'll be all your doing."

Steve looked up from pumping the gas. "Okay, I think we've got enough gas. Let's go." He wanted to get away from this creepy guy as fast as possible, as did the others.

As they pulled away, the guy just watched them drive.

When they were gone, the man walked over to a landline phone and dialled. "Coulson? Selvig? They left. Their on their way now. Get the monitoring system ready."

They drove along. Loki was still in shock from the man's comment and insult to his intellectual abilities. "I…I've never been called anything of that magnitude before…." He said.

Bruce patted him on the shoulder. "Don't take it personally Loki, the man is probably just bitter 'cause he hates his job, out here in the middle of nowhere, and he mentioned he works at night, so that can't be fun."

Loki thought about it, and nodded his head slowly. "A likely conclusion. Thank you, Banner." Bruce smiled.

They drove on for about another hour, and finally at around 2:00 in the afternoon, they arrived at the cabin. The rambler pulled around some trees, and revealed the place. It was kind of old looking, but also quite comfortable. They went in, and set their stuff down. It was full of antiques, and old wallpaper. "This is breathtaking!" said Thor, beaming. Loki grumbled. "If you consider, 'Escaped convict grandmother,' a suitable interior style, then yes, it is quite remarkable."

They went in, and called their rooms, setting their stuff in. As they unpacked, Thor called to everyone, "Friends! Let's start off our weekend with a little swimming! Get your swim attire on, we shall embark in 10 minutes!"

Steve rustled through his things, feeling for his bathing suit. He couldn't find it, and felt deeper. He sighed, and took everything out. Of course. Right at the bottom of everything. He pulled his suit on, and checked his reflection in the mirror. The red, white and blue pattern on his shorts really went with his hair.

Over in his room, Tony was unpacking all his alcohol, planting it all over the room. He decided not to go swimming today, just enjoy the sun.

Thor and Loki were in their room getting ready. Loki set his things down on one of the twin beds, and took out a book to bring. "Loki!" Thor whined. "You can't read! We are going to swim! You have to participate!" Loki frowned. "Thor, you know how much I despise getting wet. I simply wish to enjoy my afternoon reading a good novel."

Thor plucked the book out of his hands and through it out the window, where it landed with a thud in the grass. "No reading today, brother. Get your swimming things on, we're leaving soon. Loki looked, unimpressed, out the window at his favourite book lying out where wild animals could get it. He sighed, and got his swimsuit that Thor had bought him for his last birthday that he made him pack out. They were dark green swim trunks, with little black horses.

They all met in the foyer. "Let us go!" boomed Thor, and led the way to the lake.


	4. Chapter 4

"Cannonball!" shouted Steve as he and Bruce jumped off the end of the dock into the lake. Immediately the cold water hit Steve. "Oh man! It's freezing in here!" Bruce shivered. "You're right!" Bruce was wearing a pair of plain dark purple swim shorts.

Thor was wearing gold shorts with rainbows on them. His muscles were showing off. He laughed from the dock. "You people are so petty. It can't be that bad!" Loki came up behind him, with his arms wrapped around him, slightly hunching over, embarrassed.

Tony came sauntering out through the woods to the opening at the dock. The sun shone over him, and he sat down with his legs in the water. He laid down, put his sunglasses on, started some music, and relaxed in the rays.

"Come Loki, let's do a jump together!" said Thor. It will be like that Midgardian movie… what was it called…. A 'High School Musical' jump!" Loki just rolled his eyes. "You dragged me out here, and you managed to convince me to wear this dastardly hideous swimming uniform, you will not force me to get in this freezing lake!"

Thor frowned, and looked out to the lake. "What is that?" he asked, taken aback. "What?" Loki asked, confused. "What Thor?" asked Bruce. Thor pointed. "There is something in the lake!" Steve looked around him. "What? Thor stop it!"

Thor shook his head. "No, I speak the truth! It looks just like…. My brother!" he shouted as he pushed Loki in with one slap to the back. Loki screeched as he hurtled into the depths of the water. He resurfaced, looking like a drowned cat, gelled black hair flattened against his neck. Everyone was laughing.

Thor laughed, and Loki flapped his arms around, trying to stay above the water. Thor pointed again. "Oh no, it looks like something else is in there! It looks like a dangerously good looking god of thunder!" He then jumped in, wrapping Loki in a hug. Loki cried out, and tried to pry the god's arms off of him, but he was no match for Thor's strength.

Their laughter was heard echoing through the forest, and Coulson and Selvig watched from the cameras they had set up.

"Alright, people, the betting pool begins now!" called Selvig from in front of a big whiteboard. The whiteboard was filled with otherworldly creatures such as Frost Giants, Dark Elves, Fire Giants, the Abomination, Hydra Hailers, etc. "Place your bets here!" said Selvig, holding up a pen, ready to write the name of the department betting down.

Coulson walked over. Selvig looked at him, and sighed. "Still betting on the Bilgesnipe?" Coulson handed him some money. "Same as every year!" Selvig took the cash, and put it in the betting pool. "You know those things are rare! They have a terrible record. Hardly anyone chooses their object!" Coulson shrugged. "I have faith. I will live to see a Bilgesnipe one day. I can feel it." Selvig laughed. "Whatever you say."

Hill came over with some money in hand, and checked out the board. "Hmm. I think I'll bet on… the Frost Giants." Selvig raised an eyebrow questioningly. "But you always bet on the fire giants!" She shrugged. "Figure I'd better switch it up this year, see if anything happens." Selvig laughed, and took the money, putting hers and Coulson's name up on the board.


	5. Chapter 5

Night had fallen at the cabin, and the friends were getting ready for their first night of fun. Tony took out his StarkPod, and plugged it in to a retro looking stereo. Loud music came through, filling the cabin with lively sound. Steve looked at him. "Tony, is ACDC all you have?" Tony scowled playfully at Steve. "They're my favourite band! I can change it though." He went over, and put some Led Zeppelin on.

"Alright, let's play what you call, 'Truth or Dare,' said Thor, taking a sip of beer from a giant mug. Steve, Bruce, and Loki also had some. Bruce pointed at Loki. "But, he's underage!" Thor just laughed. "He can handle 50 x more alcohol than any of you, he is of Asgard! Do not worry about my brother. He will be fine." Bruce just shrugged.

"Okay!" said Tony, standing up with his bottle of Jack Daniels in hand. "Loki!" Loki turned his head in fear of what this man would ask him to do. "I dare you to make out with…." Loki looked around, horrified at what he would say next. Tony scratched his chin. "That moose, over there!" They all turned to where Tony was pointing. Steve turned around. "Uh… Tony? That's a wolf," pointed out Steve. Tony squinted, trying to see if Steve was right. After a minute, he gave up and laughed. "I'm livin' in a world of whiskey, leave me alone!" They all laughed.

Loki looked at the wolf's head mounted on the wall, and gulped. But as much as he really, really didn't want to even touch the thing, he didn't wish to be teased for the rest of the weekend, so reluctantly, he got up, and hopped over the couch. As he walked up to it, and looked at it disdainfully, all his friends looked on in suspense and awe. He felt himself getting closer, and closer, and suddenly, his lips were touching the wolf's. He heard a wolf whistle, coming most likely from Tony. He held it for a few seconds, the worst few seconds of his life, then ripped his lips away. He spat out the hair in his mouth, and twisted his face in disgust. Their was a shocked silence, then the room erupted into cheers and applause. Loki just growled and sat back down. Thor laughed, "Well done, brother!" Loki just muttered a hateful response from the couch.

"Alright," he said, taking a sip from his mug. "Um…. Steve!" Steve looked up. "Truth or Dare?" Steve looked surprised from Loki picking him, and was about to answer, when Thor opened his mouth. "Truth." Steve looked over. "And what is that supposed to mean?" Thor grinned. "I'm just answering for you. You were going to say that, anyway, Steve. We know you." Steve looked offended. "Fine then, Loki. Dare."

Coulson and Selvig were watching through the cameras planted in the cabin. "Now? This is absoloute perfect timing!" said Coulson with a smile. Slevig nodded. "Now."

Suddenly, the door to the cellar in the cabin slammed open. *CRASH* They all jumped. Coulson and Selvig high fived.

"What was that?" asked Bruce, very startled. Steve looked over the couch. "The cellar door!" Thor stood up nervously. "Perhaps it was the wind…" Loki looked over to him in disbelief. "How does that make any sense at all, you buffoon?!" Thor shrugged.

They all wandered over to it cautiously. "Woah," said Bruce, "This is all very strange." They peered down into the pitch black. "Well, one of us has to check it out!" said Steve. "Why?" asked Tony pleadingly. They all tried to think of who should go down.

Loki suddenly smiled evilly. "Steve? I dare you."

Steve looked to Loki, then down to the cellar. He swallowed.


	6. Chapter 6

Steve took the first step down on the creaky stairs. He had grabbed a lantern so he could see, since there wasn't much light down in the cellar. "When does the dare end?" called up Steve, biting his lip. "When you scream for mercy!" shouted down Thor. Steve gulped, hoping he wouldn't have to.

As he shone his lantern around the room, he saw different objects all over the place. Everything looked so old, and interesting. Steve went over to one object, and looked it over. "Guys?" he called, "You'd better come down here!" They came down. "Scared already?" smirked Loki. Steve scowled back. "No, I just found this weird stuff."

They all looked around in amazement. "What is all this stuff?" asked Bruce, going over to something. "Your cousin collects some weird stuff!" Thor looked around. "I am not entirely sure this is all his…maybe it was left behind by the previous owners." They all went over to something.

Loki found a big blue rectangular thing with two handles on the side, Thor went over to a sharp, white horn, and almost blew into it to make a sound with it, when he noticed a little ball of dancing flame.

Bruce went over to a test tube that looked like it had bubbling light green gas in it, Tony went over to a small red stone with a black octopus and skull symbol on it, and Steve immediately went over to a glowing blue cube of energy encased in a glass box with two brown handles.

Everyone began fiddling with their object. Loki was about to touch the centre of the icy rectangle, Thor was about to release the flame, Bruce was about to open the lid to the test tube, and Tony was about to rub the stone with the menacing symbol on it, but Steve opened his mouth.

"Guys?"

Everyone put their object down, and walked over to Steve. Tony stared with wide eyes at the glowing blue cube in Steve's hand. "This is so cool," said Steve, inspecting it. "Uh… guys? I think we should go upstairs. I dare you all to go upstairs?" laughed Tony nervously. They just ignored him, and Steve grasped the handles. "I think we should turn the handles." "No. No, I am drawing a line here, DO NOT TURN THE HANDLES!" yelled Tony.

Thor laughed at Tony. "Relax, son of Stark! It is simply a cube! What harm can a cube do?" Tony shrugged. "A lot!" Thor frowned. "Stop being so immature!" Tony raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I'm being immature?" Bruce stopped them. "Guys, come on. Seriously, what can a cube do?" He nodded at Steve to turn the handles.

Steve took a deep breath, and turned them.

Out in the woods, a portal opened from the sky, and Chitauri came flying down from it on jet riders.

Back in the lab, Selvig and Coulson turned away from the screen. "Alright everyone, we have a winner! The congratulations go to- Logistics!" shouted Selvig. Coulson grumbled. Selvig went over, and both of them began walking over to the exterior cameras for the woods. They stood there for a second, until Coulson broke the silence.

"He had the horn in his hands!" Selvig shook his head. "I know, I know. So close!" Coulson sighed. "I am never gonna get to see a Bilgesnipe." Selvig chuckled. "You don't want to! They're repulsive! They trample everything in their path. Cleanup on them is a nightmare." Coulson looked over at him, and nodded. "So. The Chitauri." "Yup." "At least the Chitauri have a 100% clearance rate." "That they do." They both laughed.

"Let's increase the pheromones, and put personality opposite gasses in."

A couple hours later, the gases were starting to take effect. R&B music was playing through the stereo, and Loki was dancing by the fireplace. Thor laughed. "Brother, what dance move is that?" Loki turned around, and grinned widely, a hazy look on his face. "It's called the Snake Hips!" He was circling his hips around with his hands clasped in front of him.

Tony was onto his 5th bottle of Jack, but he seemed to notice something was up with everyone. Bruce was acting dumber, Thor was gravitating away to his usual friendly, overjoyed self to mean and degrading, and Loki…. Well, Loki just wasn't Loki.

"I think something very dynamic is going on around here…" said Tony, eyes narrowed. Loki came over to Tony. "You're just drunk, Tony." Tony looked at him. "Tony? You never call me Tony. You always call me Stark! Guys, something is definitely up." Thor just sneered. "Listen to Loki, Tony. You are simply under the influence of too much of this Midgardian alcohol. This much can't be good for you!"

Tony was taken aback by this. Thor had never said anything about his drinking before! "Mark my words, I'm gonna be right in the end." "Well, I won't be here to witness your success," said Loki as he went to the door, "I'm going for a swim." Tony's eyes widened. Loki? Swimming? In the middle of the night? He shook his head. This seemed like a bad dream.

Steve laughed. "I'm gonna get some more beer." He went to the kitchen, and Tony followed.

As Steve was refilling his mug, Tony came up behind him. "You don't think something weird is going on?" Steve turned. "I must admit, everyone does seem a little strange." Tony nodded. "Take Bruce- one of the smartest scientific minds in the school, and he doesn't even know what the particle theory is anymore? There's something funny going on… Puppeteers…"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Puppeteers?" Tony's head snapped up. "Pop tarts? Thor loves Pop tarts, quick hide them, he'll eat the whole box!" Steve smiled, and shook his head. "Look, Tony, I agree with what you're saying. But right now, you're really drunk."

Steve left the kitchen, and Tony stood there for a second. "I think I'm gonna go build a mini robot," he decided, taking a swig of whiskey.


	7. Chapter 7

As Loki opened the door, Steve called out to him, "Loki… are you sure you don't want to go lay down in your room for a bit? I don't think it's that safe going swimming this late at night!" Loki just whipped around, and said in a daze, "I do what I want!" and left.

Loki walked down the path, refreshed by the cool air. He felt adrenaline rushing through him. He ran out through the forest, grinning while he went down to the lake. He thought he heard noises around him in the forest, but paid them no attention, for he felt giddy as ever. He skipped out to the dock, getting ready to jump in the cold water.

He heard a twig snap behind him. He laughed. "Thor? Thor is that you? Tony? If it's you playing a prank Tony, I will personally incinerate all your alcohol once I get back to the cabin!" There was no answer, only the sound of the chilling wind whispering through the trees.

Loki looked around nervously. "Hello? Who's there? Show yourself, I say!" There was only more twig snapping in the trees I reply.

"I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by-" He was cut off by the sound of a branch break, and the sound of footsteps getting nearer and nearer to him. He gulped, looking all around him. "I have an army! Well, not really, I just have a group of friends who are extremely physically fit!" There was still no answer.

"ANSWER ME, BLASTED!" Suddenly, a creature emerged from the trees. Loki's mouth dropped open. It was a silver creature, made of metal, and was carrying a glowing sceptre, similar to the colour of the cube from the cellar. Loki took a few steps back. "Wh-Who are you?" he asked, frightened now. The thing just looked at him, and came toward him slowly. Loki continued to back up. "I-I just wanted to go for a swim… I didn't mean to disturb you, I'll just be going now…"

The creature stopped him as he tried to pass, and pushed him down on the ground of the dock. He scrambled back as the creature aimed his glowing sceptre at Loki. Realizing there was no escape, he began calling for his friends in a desperate state now.

"STARK? BANNER? ROGERS?! THOOOOR!" he screamed as the top of his lungs as the zap of the sceptre silenced him.

Up in the trees, the man from the roof was watching all of this from a distance. He touched his earpiece, and said "This is Hawkeye to base. Archetype one is down."

Back at the cabin, they were beginning to worry about Loki.

"He's been gone for nearly an hour!" said Steve, eyebrows knit in concern. "That's pretty long," added Bruce. Thor just waved them off. "He's most likely still swimming, having fun, as we should be doing!" "Don't you wanna go look for him?" asked Steve, "I mean, he's your brother for gods' sake!" Thor sighed. "I suppose you will all keep speaking about this unless I search for him, so I shall. I will return him to our care."

Thor opened the door, and left, finishing the last of his mug of beer, and smashing it on the ground, calling out to the open forest, "ANOTHER!" Steve just shook his head.

Meanwhile, Tony had gone to his room, cracked open a bottle of scotch, and was drinking that as he assembled little parts and mechanics to make a mini robot. He was finding it harder than usual, since he was very drunk, but he was managing to get the pieces together. He heard the door close as Thor left, and went out to the main room.

"What's happnin?" He asked Steve and Bruce. "Thor went to find Loki. He's been gone for almost an hour!" said Bruce. "Oh. I hope he's okay…" Bruce shrugged. "It's just the forest. Nothing serious could have happened to him."

Just then, Thor burst through the door, covered in mud and dirt. He slammed the door shut, and looked at all of them.

"Loki's gone." "What do you mean gone?" "I mean gone, as in, gone gone." He hung his head, eyes watering. "My brother…" Steve came up to Thor, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Thor, it's not your fault.." Thor looked up.

"I could have saved him, if I was there with him, like an older brother should be!" Bruce came over. "You don't know that." Thor stood up straight, and a serious look came over his face. "But whatever got Loki is surely still out there somewhere, and will likely come for us at any time."

This sent chills down Steve's spine. "What do you think's out there?" In answer to his question, there was a zoom sound, and a loud thump on the door.

"QUICK, we must bar the door!" shouted Thor, as everyone ran to it, trying to hold it closed. Over by the wall Tony was standing at, a metallic hand and another glowing sceptre burst through. "AAHH!" Tony shrieked, and ran to the door. "Alright, everyone, we have got to stay together," said Bruce. Tony nodded. "Yeah. Yeah good idea."

From where they were watching, Coulson did a facepalm. Selvig just smiled, and turned some knobs on a board. "Don't worry. Everything is under control."

Some air vents opened in the cabin, releasing a type of gas into the air. Bruce turned around, and something passed over him. "Uh… uh, you know what? I think we should split up. Yeah. Yeah, let's split up! We'll cover more ground that way." Tony stared at him in disbelief. "What?" Suddenly, more arms started breaking through the cabin walls.

"Okay, everybody, go to your rooms, go go!" shouted Bruce. Everyone ran into their room.

Coulson and Selvig looked at each other. "Lock 'em in!"

The doors to their room slammed shut, and locked. Tony frowned, and went over to examine it. "What the… how did it… huh.." he said, scratching his head. He walked over by the window, deciding now was a good time for another drink. He searched the room for his planted alcohol, and accidentally knocked a vase over.

He looked down at the broken ceramics. "Oops," he mumbled. As he looked closer at the broken pieces, he saw something else. A wire! Tony gasped. "Oh my… Oh my god!" he said, pulling out the wire, and tracing it up the wall into the ceiling.

"Oh no. This is not good. He knows," said Coulson frantically. Selvig got on the phone. "Hill, we need 200 ml of anti perception pumped into room 4-" "No, wait," Coulson tapped him, pointing to the outdoor camera. "Chitauri to the rescue."

Tony looked around, dumbfounded. "I was right all along! Puppeteers!" he sat down on the windowsill. "I'm not usually right. Woah. Hey… we're on a reality TV show!" his smile dropped. "Everyone's gonna think I'm such a drunk!"

His thoughts were interrupted by the silver arm of a Chitauri creature breaking its arm through the window and wrapping it around Tony's neck and pulling him out.

Tony stood up in front of the creature, and his eyes widened in terror. He took what was In his hand, which just happened to be a Scotch bottle, and smashed the creature's head with it. He smiled, pleased with himself, until the Chitauri just stood up again. Tony screamed for help as the creature grabbed his leg, immediately breaking it.

"STEVE! BRUCE! THOR, SOMEONE! HEEELP!" he shouted in unimaginable pain from his leg as the Chitauri dragged him into the forest. "HELP! HEEEELP!" His cries were quickly diminished with a blast of the sceptre.


	8. Chapter 8

From his room, Steve was shaking the door handle, trying to get it open. Realizing he couldn't, he sat on the bed, and thought about all that had happened. Loki was gone…. Wow. Steve was really scared. His friend was gone! And any one of them could be next.

His thoughts were confirmed when a hand came crashing through the window, clawing at the bookcase by it. Steve jumped up, and pushed the bookcase in front of the window. The hand pounded on it, and it was beginning to move. Steve looked around frantically for something to defend himself with, but found nothing.

He decided calling for help from his friends was his only option now. "HEY! HELP! I NEED HELP IN HERE!" Suddenly, the mirror in Steve's room was broken by a lamp being thrown through, and Bruce stepped in, extending a hand. "Come on!" Steve jumped through, and ran through Bruce's broken down door.

As they ran, they tried to stop for the others, but Thor just told them to go find a way out, he'd find a way out. As hard as it was to leave their friends, they knew that was the best chance of escape. They ran out to the rambler, but they realized they forgot the keys inside.

They ran back in, and looked around. They finally spotted them on the table, grabbed them, and ran out. As Steve got in and Bruce started the engine, they heard a boom, and Thor burst out through the front door, and ran to the rambler.

He got in, and they began to pull away. What they didn't see, was a faint blue glow coming from the backseat.

"Wait!" shouted Steve. "What about Tony?" Thor turned to him, and shook his head sadly. "I checked his room. They got him as well." Steve's eyes widened, and watered. They drove as fast as they could down the path through the forest that they had taken earlier. As they got to a bridge they had crossed, right after the gas station, they hit something head on. It sent Bruce into the windshield, and Thor and Steve flying back.

They got up, and rubbed their heads. "Ow… What was that? What did we hit?" Steve asked. Bruce checked out the window. "Nothing… there's nothing there!" "What? You must be mistaken Bruce, there must be something that we hit," said Thor. They all got out.

They looked around. "Nothing!" Thor sighed, and they got back into the Rambler. "Must have been a tire blowout," said Bruce, and he tried to start the engine, but it only made a low gurgling sound. "What? NO!" shouted Bruce as it kept gurgling. He hit the wheel.

They got out again. "It looks like we'll have to run…" said Steve. "We could try, but the things will get to us before we can." Thor looked around. "It seems Steve's idea is the only hope we have now." They took a step, and suddenly, a giant tree came crashing down in front of them.

They jumped back, narrowly missing being crushed by it. It was as big as a giant building, and there was no way of getting over it.

Thor looked dumbfounded. "There is no wind… how could it have blown over?" "Might have been an old tree," said Bruce. "Well, it doesn't matter how it came down, all that matters is the fact that we can't get around it!" said Steve.

They all thought. "Got any rope, or… Thor! Did you bring your hammer? Your dad just gave it to you!" Thor shook his head sadly. "I left it on Asgard." They all looked around for something to use. Suddenly, Thor's face lit up. "I'll fly! I will use that to my advantage, being the only otherworldly…. living… person here," he said, remembering what had happened to his brother and looking down sadly.

Bruce nodded. "Good idea. I'll go estimate the measurements for the length you'll have to fly to get across." Thor nodded. Steve turned to him. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, we can find another way out, together!" Thor just smiled, and put a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Thank you Steve, but I believe this is the only way we have of getting out." Steve realized he was right.

Bruce came back over. "You got about…60 meters. Taking the diameter into consideration with the depth, it shouldn't be too wide, just a straight path across." Thor nodded, and walked back against the rock mountain behind him. They came over to him. "Give it your all, Thor. You're all we've got now," said Steve.

Thor turned to them. "Thank you, for being such good friends. I promise that I will return, with much enforcement and strength to get you out of here." He clenched his fist, ready to run. "For Loki."

They shouted encouragement after him as he started to run. He reached the end of the cliff, propelled himself, and jumped across. He flew through the air, hope welling inside of Steve and Bruce…. only for the hope to be shattered as Thor crashed violently into an invisible wall of energy, falling down, down into the depths underneath the cliffs.

Steve and Bruce's mouths dropped open. "What- what just happened? THOR!" shouted Steve. Bruce was in shock, hands shaking from what he saw. "I… he just… there's nothing! There's nothing even there!" Steve backed up, looking around him suspiciously in horror.

"Tony was right…" he mumbled. Bruce turned to him. "What? What was Tony right about?" Steve looked at him. "Puppeteers." Bruce shook his head. "Look, Steve, you can't go crazy on me now, okay? We've got to find a way out together!"

Steve just nodded slowly, but was starting to process things in his mind. It all made sense to him now. But they had to get out of this place, whatever it was, before something happened to them as well, which was beginning to look very likely.

They got into the rambler, and Bruce started to drive. "We'll drive through the forest. We'll keep driving, until we find another way out. There has got to be another way out." Steve just shook his head, looking out the window. "You're missing the point. There's no way out. Whoever's keeping us in here? They won't let us leave."

Bruce's hand tightened around the wheel. "Steve, come on man! Don't lose it now! Come on, we can do this." Steve turned to Bruce. Bruce looked like he was trying to convince himself as well as Steve. "Everything will be alright, as long as we stick toge-" Bruce was cut off as a blast of blue light came from behind his head, and he fell onto the steering wheel.

Steve yelped, and the rambler lost control. It went flying into the other side of the lake they had been swimming in, deep down into the depths of the icy water. Immediately, the water hit Steve, forcing him to hold his breath as he tried to swim out. He smashed a window, and just as he was swimming out, something grabbed his leg.

It was a weird looking silver thing, and Steve kicked it as hard as he could, temporarily releasing himself from it's grip, swimming up to the surface. Steve was shivering as he swam as fast as he could toward the dock.

From where they were watching, Coulson and Selvig cheered. "Whew! This was a close year, man. Japan's ritual failed, so if it wasn't for us, we would all be toast!" Selvig laughed. "Yeah, the US takes back the champion's title!"

People from all departments started spilling into the control room, congratulating the two. Hill came in, and Selvig smirked. "See? I told you so." Hill just scowled, but then smiled, since everyone was so relieved the scenario had worked. Coulson took out some champagne he was saving, and everyone started to celebrate with music.

On the screen behind them, Steve was struggling through the lake to get away from the Chitauri. But they were paying him no attention, the ritual was complete, so it didn't matter if he was dead or alive.

Two people came up to Coulson. "Hey! That was intense, I was kinda sad to see them go, this bunch really had heart!" Coulson nodded. "Well, you get used to it. It's for the good of the world, right?" He went over to Selvig. "You know what? To celebrate our fabulous win, I'm gonna ask the cellist out!" Selvig nodded approvingly. "About time!"

Suddenly, the phone rang. Selvig looked over, and Coulson looked over. They looked at each other, and walked over to it. "Hey everybody, music off! Now!" called Coulson as he answered. "H-hello?" He looked down for a second, then up at the screen in surprise. "Which one?!"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Warning, scenes of violence in this chapter. **

Steve hoisted himself up, rolling onto his back. He breathed out, exhausted. All of his friends were gone. He was the last one. He felt tears in his eyes. Why was this happening? It just didn't make sense. Suddenly, out of nowhere, another one of the silver creatures came out of the trees and swung its weapon at Steve.

He rolled away from it, trying to get up, only to realize his pant leg was stuck on a loose board in the dock. He pulled and pulled at it, as the Chitauri took another swing at him. Steve ducked away, and it missed. It was very angry now, and it gave a low, vicious growl. It came right up to Steve, pointing its sceptre right at Steve's head.

Steve squeezed his eyes shut, knowing what was about to happen, when he heard a *Clonk* noise. He opened his eyes when he did not feel the strike of energy. There, standing over the unconscious Chitauri, was a very dirty, very messy looking Tony! Steve almost jumped for joy.

"Tony! But how? Thor said you were dead!" Tony grinned his side smile. "Well, not at the moment." The Chitauri began to rouse from the ground, and Tony grabbed Steve's arm. "Come on!" Steve ripped with all his strength at his pant leg, and it came free. As they ran, Steve noticed Tony was badly limping, and had a tree branch tied to his leg as a splint.

"What happened?" Tony looked down at it. "Oh this? Yeah, one of those scary looking guys came in through my window, and… battle sort of took place. He broke my leg and dragged me into the forest, but while he was dragging me, I managed to get hold of his sceptre, and when he tried to use it, I blasted him!"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Wow."

They ran and ran until they reached a hole in the ground, with a portal right above it. Steve stopped. "Uh… why are we going in here?" Tony shrugged. "I found this place. I didn't know where you guys had gone, so I figured I would wait in here. It might be a way out, but we won't know unless we try."

They got into the underground hole. It looked like a elevator. "I found these buttons over here…" said Tony, going over to the wall. "Do you think we should press one, see what happens?" Just then, they heard the Chitauri from the lake getting close to the elevator they were in. "We don't have a choice. Push it!" said Steve.

Tony, pushed the button, and the elevator descended. They looked all around them. "Where do you think it'll take us?" asked Steve nervously. "Anything could be better than up there!" Tony replied.

As they got deeper underground, the elevator started moving sideways. "This is weird…" mumbled Steve. The elevator stopped. They looked around, not knowing what to expect. It was pitch black all around them, except for the light in their elevator.

Then, out of nowhere, a monstrous creature clawed at the transparent elevator wall. They jumped back. It was an orange and red giant that was blazing with fire. It was angry, and its eyes were like razors. "Yeah, on second thought, it looked pretty good up there…" said Tony nervously. The elevator kept moving as the fiery giant kept clawing at its wall.

They came to a stop once again, and Tony poked Steve. "Steve?" "Yeah?" "_Look_." Steve turned to where Tony was pointing, and saw a white creature with brown armour on and white hair in a long braid. It turned to face them, revealing a white mask with two dark circular eye holes in it. It had ears pointed like an elf's. There were two others in there with it.

Tony gulped. They looked over to Steve's side, and saw something very scary. It was a giant deep blue creature, taller than anything they had seen so far, with faint circular lines on it's face and eyes as red as blood. The two backed up, and Steve noticed something the giant was holding. The blue ice rectangle that Loki was holding earlier. Steve's eyes narrowed, then everything made sense to him!

"Oh my god…" he said, covering his mouth. "What? What is it?" Steve looked at the rectangle with the swirling snow inside of it. "They made us choose." "What?" Steve nodded to himself. "They made us choose how we die." He hit the wall with his fist. Tony looked at the rectangle, and understood instantly. "What kind of sick place is this?!" "One we have to find a way out of."

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room, the party was cancelled and the two men were working frantically to communicate with the departments. "Do we know where they are?" asked Selvig. "No. All we know is there's a perimeter breach. They made it inside," said Coulson solemnly. "Get the cameras up, try to find them in the elevators!"

They finally spotted them, as they were getting out. Coulson got on the com system right away. "We need a team down to level 1, archetype 2 and 5 are on the premises, code red."

A team of agents in black gear and masks rushed downstairs. Steve and Tony heard them coming, and hid in a little room with a bunch of levers in it. Suddenly, a voice came over the speakers. "Hello Tony. Hello Steve." It was a deep male voice, that sounded very powerful. "I know this night must be very hard for you, seeing as your friends are gone."

Tony scoffed at this. "Ya think?!" The voice continued on. "You were selected to be part of something very important to the world. You are part of a sacrifice ritual that happens every year to ensure the existence of our planet. The ritual requires archetypes 1 through 4 to die, and archetype 5 is optional. If you have not already figured it out, Steve is this one. But Tony, on the other hand, is archetype 2, which means something very grave. If he doesn't die by sunrise, the whole world will be destroyed by what lives beneath us."

Tony's mouth was wide open. Steve shook his head. "This is unbelievable. We have to find a way out." The voice came back on. "A firing team is on their way to you. Please, make this easy on yourself." The two frantically started searching around for a way to escape undetected. But where were they supposed to run? They didn't even know where they were.

The firing team came into the large hallway, searching for the two. Just then, Tony found a large black button that said 'SYSTEM PURGE' underneath it. Steve saw it too. They exchanged looks, and as the firing team saw them and got ready to fire, he pushed it.

There was a low clicking sound, then a high pitched whistle. The team stopped, and the leader put his hand up to stop. They all listened, and the leader realized what was going on. "Oh my-" He was cut off by the ding of every elevator opening at once, and monsters of all kinds came out, ripping people apart everywhere. Steve turned away in disgust, and Tony watched in awe. "These things were just living underneath that cabin we were in!"

They slowly creeped out of the control box, and the monsters started moving around the whole facility. Tony and Steve went undetected through all the bodies, trying to find somewhere to go. Tony picked up a gun from a body to defend them with.

As they walked, they looked around them. It was pure anarchy, monsters attacking everyone in sight. The giant flame was lighting everything on fire, burning people alive, there was an army of soldiers marching together with their hands over their chests, wearing uniforms with the red octopus and skull symbol on the rock that Tony had picked up earlier.

As they passed people running by them, they put their hands up in the air, shouted "HAIL HYDRA!" in unison, and shot them. Steve got shivers from the brutality of it all. They kept running, and passed a man with black uniform and black sunglasses, the man who had been following them, reporting on their deaths. He was trying to fight off a blue Frost Giant with a crossbow, but as he pulled back to shoot, the giant used its icy rectangle to freeze him on the spot, and brought a fist down on him, smashing the frozen man into pieces.

Tony squeezed his eyes shut, but kept running. The elevator doors dinged again, unloading more races of monsters, among them the Dark Elves they had seen, using a dark red mist to encase people and incinerate them. The floor shook. It shook in the patterns of footsteps, and a very pale green giant, even bigger than the Frost and Fire giants, with huge muscles came running out, bashing people back and forth. It was the Abomination.

Steve ran as fast as he could, with Tony limping at his fastest, into a big hole ripped in the wall.

Coulson and Selvig were freaking out, and Hill came in, locking the vault door behind her. "What are we gonna do?" she shouted over the sounds of explosions. Coulson looked up. "Evacuate." He got on the general com, and said: "Everyone, Code Black, I repeat, Code Black!" Suddenly, there was a huge explosion by the door, and it blew open.

"GO!" shouted Selvig to Hill. She turned, but then came back. "I won't leave you guys!" Suddenly, the huge green fist of the Abomination grabbed her and pulled her out as she screamed. "HILL!" shouted Coulson. Another explosion went off, this one closer, sending Coulson and Selvig flying.

Coulson's vision was clouded by white as he recovered from the explosion. He rolled onto his side, and squinted into the smoke the bomb left behind. In the distance, he saw a bit of brown fur. He tried to look closer. It came closer, and closer, and he two white horns emerged from the haze. It really was repulsive.

Coulson, realizing it was a Bilgesnipe, threw up his hands. "Aw, come on!" It trampled him, as Selvig watched in horror. But he knew he had to get out before something got him. He went down through a secret door in the ground, and started running through the underground tunnels.

He ran right into Steve and Tony, and after seeing everything that was happening, Tony shot whatever he thought it was. Selvig opened his mouth, and fell to the floor. As they ran past, he grabbed Steve's leg, and stopped him. "Please…." He whispered…. "Kill him."

As they kept running, Tony handed Steve the gun. "I think you'd be better with this than me, I just accidentally shot a guy!" Steve nodded slowly, remembering what the guy said. But Tony was one of his best friends! Well, his only friend now. He would never do something like that!

Would he?


	10. Chapter 10

Tony and Steve walked into a large room with vast stone walls. The ground shook, and they stumbled. They looked around, and found statues of each of the 5 friends around the middle. "What the hell…" Tony mumbled. Steve looked around. "A sacrifice…. Each of us represents a different type of person."

"That's right Steve," said a voice from the shadows, the voice of the person over the loudspeaker. He stepped out, and revealed himself to be a tall bald man with a long black trench coat and a black eye patch. "Each of you are a different archetype." "Who are you? And how do you know our names?" asked Tony, wincing from a sudden pain in his leg.

"I am Director Fury. I am head of all departments here at S.H.I.E.L.D., I make sure everything runs…smoothly. What we do here is we keep the old world from rising, and to do that we must sacrifice 5 different archetypes of young men and women every year."

"Sacrifice? Why do you make it so drawn out then, just tie us to a slab of rock and get it over with that way?" asked Tony. Fury shrugged. "Over the years, it would get pretty boring just watching the same thing. We made it a little interesting." Tony laughed. "That's not, sadistic or anything."

"So…" Steve thought, "You said the 'old world.' What do you mean by that?" "Thousands of years ago, the earth was ruled by a race of creatures who were much larger than us. When we humans came along, we found a way of luring them into hiding, and keeping them down." When he said 'down,' he looked to the ground.

Steve looked down. "Is that the shaking?" Fury nodded grimly. "4 of the 5 archetypes must be sacrificed by morning, or the old ones will rise."

"Who was who though?" asked Tony. Fury gestured to the statues. "There was Loki, the Arrogant, Thor, the Athlete, You Tony, are the Jester." Tony smirked. "Bruce, the Scholar, and Steve. You're the virgin." Tony looked at him in disbelief, and Steve blushed. "You don't have to announce it…" he mumbled. "The virgin's death is optional. But if the Jester is still alive by sun up," Fury said seriously, "Then the whole world is done for."

Steve thought for a second, and lifted the gun on Tony. Tony slowly turned, and seeing Steve point the gun at him, says slowly. "Really? Really Steve? You would do that to your best friend? That you've known since childhood?" Steve closed his eyes, but kept the gun on Tony. "Yes, Steve," Fury coaxed. "You must do it, for the good of all humanity!"

Steve stared hard at the trigger, contemplating what to do. As he was doing so, Tony noticed a stray Hydra Hailer behind Steve, but didn't say anything in warning. The monster shot at Steve's arm, and he fell to the ground in pain. Tony immediately grabbed the gun, and as the Hailer was going in for the kill, shot the soldier.

He tossed the gun down and rushed over to Steve. "You okay man?" Steve nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'll be alright."

Fury grabbed the gun, and was about to shoot Tony himself, but was attacked from behind by a dark elf. Tony and Steve watched as his one eye turned red, then completely black, and dark red veins appeared all over his face. He choked, and vanished into dust.

Steve sighed as Tony sat down beside him. He was used to seeing people die by now. They both started at the shaking walls around them, waiting for the earth to be swallowed up. "Hey, I'm sorry I let you get attacked by a Hydra Hailer, Capsicle," said Tony. "No, no. I understand. I'm sorry I almost shot you. I wasn't going to!" Tony waved his hand in forgiveness, and felt around his pocket.

He let out a breath as he pulled out a mini bottle of alcohol he had kicking around, and took a big sip. He offered it to Steve, and Steve graciously accepted. "Giant Evil Creatures…." Tony mused, "who'd have thought!"

"Well, with Asgard and everything, who knows what's possible anymore!" "True. Speaking of which, I don't think Thor even has a cousin.." said Tony. Steve turned to him, passing the bottle back.

"How could he? He's from Asgard!" They both chuckled at not questioning this earlier. "But overall, it was a pretty exciting weekend," said Tony jokingly, finishing the last of the drink. "Exciting it was…" agreed Steve.

Suddenly, the whole place started to shake violently.

"Well, Tony, this is it!" shouted Steve. "Yup, looks like it. Thanks, Steve, for staying with me all these years." Steve smiled, and the ceiling caved in as a giant fist smashed out of the ground, taking the building, and the cabin with it.


End file.
